German prosecutors said on Monday they have launched investigations into the role played by banking regulator Bafin in the dramatic collapse of payments provider Wirecard, after several complaints were filed against the supervisory watchdog.

“These criminal claims and information from media reports have prompted prosecutors in Frankfurt to carry out investigations to determine whether the allegations against unknown managers and employees are justified,” a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office told AFP. “The public prosecutor’s office has already affirmed an initial suspicion, it is just unable to say at this time against which individual persons this will be directed.”

Digital payments company Wirecard, once a rising star in the fintech sector, filed for bankruptcy last June after admitting that €1.9 billion was missing from its accounts.

The dramatic collapse of the company has been described by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz as “unparalleled” in Germany. The massive scam has put intense scrutiny on Bafin, which has been accused of lax oversight and of missing early warning signs that allowed the accounting fraud to go on for years. Bafin chief Felix Hufeld stepped down in late January, with Scholz announcing that a planned revamp of the supervisory agency would be accompanied by “a fresh start” at the top.

The Financial Times first raised suspicions about Wirecard’s business activities in a series of articles in 2019. But these apparently did not prompt German authorities to look at Wirecard more closely at the time. In a heavily criticised move, Bafin instead ordered an investigation into FT journalists.

The Financial Times first raised suspicions about Wirecard’s business activities in a series of articles in 2019. But these apparently did not prompt German authorities to look at Wirecard more closely at the time. In a heavily criticised move, Bafin instead ordered an investigation into FT journalists

The Wirecard drama, which has drawn comparisons with the Enron accounting scandal in the US in the early 2000s, finally erupted a few months later. The company’s former CEO Markus Braun and several other top executives have since been arrested on fraud and money laundering charges.

As part of the probe against Bafin, investigators have asked the banking regulator, another federal authority and a bank to provide information and hand over required documents. Prosecutors would not name the bank nor the other federal authority.